Variable turbine and/or compressor geometry for an exhaust gas turbocharger

ABSTRACT

At least one of a variable turbine geometry and a variable compressor geometry for an exhaust gas turbocharger may include a housing including a first housing wall and a blade bearing ring having at least one guide blade rotatably mounted thereon. A control lever may be included for adjusting the at least one guide blade between a closing position and an opening position. An actuating shaft may be connected to the control lever in a rotationally fixed manner along a rotation axis. The actuating shaft may be rotatably mounted on the housing via a passage opening disposed in the first housing wall. The actuating shaft may directly support itself on the first housing wall in the passage opening.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 14/852,178, filed Sep. 11, 2015, which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2014 218 342.1, filed Sep. 12, 2014, the contents of both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a variable turbine and/or compressor for an exhaust gas turbocharger and an exhaust gas turbocharger having such a variable turbine and/or compressor geometry.

BACKGROUND

For regulating the turbine or compressor output in an exhaust gas turbocharger, fluid-flow machines with a so-called variable turbine respectively compressor geometry are employed. Which allow a variation of the inflow of a fluid such as for example exhaust gas or fresh air to the impeller of the fluid flow machine by means of adjustable guide blades. Such adjustability allows optimal adaptation of the fluid flow onto the impeller as a function of the fluid quantity entering at the moment. Adjusting the guide blades into an opening position with maximum flow cross section for the instance of a large quantity of exhaust gas or fresh air ensures that the gas molecules do not impinge on the impeller with too high a velocity. However, when the fluid quantity entering the fluid-flow machine decreases, for example because the internal combustion engine connected upstream of the turbocharger happens to be operated with low rotational speed at that time, adjusting the guide blades into a closing position with minimal flow cross section results in the gas molecules being accelerated. As a result, fewer gas molecules impinge on the impeller, however with increased velocity to that the impeller of the fluid-flow machine is accelerated.

For adjusting the guide blades between their opening and closing position, actuating devices, typically in the manner of actuating levers, are often used, which are directly or indirectly coupled—for example via a so-called adjusting ring—to the rotatable guide blades. For moving the actuating device designed as actuating lever it is opportune to connect the same to an actuator lever via a so-called actuating shaft in a rotationally fixed manner. By means of the actuator lever, which in turn can be drive-connected to an electric actuator, the actuating lever can thus be moved between the opening and the closing position. With conventional variable turbine and/or compressor geometries, the actuating shaft is usually at least partly in a bearing bushing provided on the guide blade support ring or on the housing and is rotatably mounted in the same. A variable turbine geometry constructed in this manner is known for example from EP 0 226 444 B1.

SUMMARY

It is now an object of the present invention to create an improved embodiment for a variable turbine and/or compressor geometry which compared with conventional variable turbine and/or compressor geometries is characterized by reduced production costs.

Accordingly, the basic idea of the invention is to not rotatably mount the actuating shaft for adjusting the guide blades with the help of a component—typically a bearing bushing or similar—attached to the housing in a fixed manner on the housing, but to entirely do without such an additional component. In other words, the control lever according to the invention is directly mounted on the housing. To this end, a suitably dimensioned passage opening is provided on the housing in which the actuating shaft can be rotationally adjustably received relative to the housing. This results in the desired direct supporting of the actuating shaft on the housing.

Since with the variable turbine respectively compressor geometry according to the invention a conventional bearing bushing or a similar component that is designed separately to the housing is omitted, elaborate assembly of the bearing bushing in the housing is also omitted, for example by means of pressing in. This results in substantially reduced production costs in the manufacture of the variable turbine respectively compressor geometry.

A variable turbine and/or compressor geometry for an exhaust gas turbocharger according to the invention has a suitably dimensioned housing delimiting a housing interior. The variable turbine and/or compressor geometry comprises a blade bearing ring, on which a plurality of guide blades is rotatably mounted. For adjusting the guide blades between a closing position and an opening position, a control lever is provided. Connected to this control lever in a rotationally fixed manner is an actuating shaft, which is rotatably mounted on the housing and for the rotatable mounting is at least partly received in a passage opening, which in turn is formed in a first housing wall of the housing. According to the invention, the actuating shaft supports itself within the passage opening directly on the first housing wall.

In a preferred embodiment, a protective coating can be provided on a wall section of the first housing wall delimiting the passage opening. Such protective coating improves the resistance of the housing to wear manifestations, which due to friction because of the rotation of the actuating shaft relative to the housing can occur in a more or less pronounced form.

Particularly practically, the protective coating can contain carbon and nitrogen. For producing such a protective coating a thermochemical method known as “nitrocarburizing” to the person skilled in the art is recommended. With this method, the surface of the housing is enriched with nitrogen and carbon. This results in an abrasion-resistant nitrided layer, which in turn comprises a connecting layer and a diffusion layer.

In another preferred embodiment, the housing has a second housing wall located opposite the first housing wall, which together with the first housing wall partly delimits the housing interior. In the second housing wall, a recess is provided, which with respect to a top view from the outside onto the first housing wall is aligned with the passage opening provided in the first housing wail. Thus, the actuating shaft cannot only support itself within the passage opening on the first housing wall but with an axial end section received in the recess, additionally also on said second housing wall. In any case, the actuating shaft supports itself directly on the respective housing wall.

In order to increase the lifespan of the variable turbine and/or compressor geometry it proves to be advantageous to provide the already explained protective coating on the side of the housing facing the housing interior also in the region of the recess formed in the second housing wall. It is clear that the protective coating also in this case—just as the protective coating in the region of the passage opening—can contain carbon and nitrogen. In this way it can be ensured that a wear-resistance protective coating is present on all bearing points of the actuating shaft on the housing. This leads to reduced wear in the actuating shaft and in those sections of the housing, on which the actuating shaft mechanically comes into contact with the housing.

For the stable fixing of the actuating shaft along an axial direction defined by the centre longitudinal axis of the actuating shaft it is proposed to design and dimension the recess provided in the second housing wall in such a manner that it acts as axial stop for the actuating shaft for a movement along its centre longitudinal axis to the second housing wall of the housing.

In an advantageous further development, the control lever can be fastened to the actuating shaft in a rotationally fixed manner by means of a clamping connection, by means of a screw connection or by means of a press connection.

In order to prevent axial movement of the actuating shaft within the housing—mostly caused through axial play of the actuating shaft in the housing due to tolerances—it is proposed in another preferred embodiment of the invention to arrange a spring-elastic element in the interior. For preloading the control lever towards the first housing wall, the same can support itself on the second housing wall on the one hand and on the control lever on the other hand,

In an advantageous further development of this embodiment, the spring-elastic element can be or comprise a coil spring, which is arranged coaxially to the centre longitudinal axis of the actuating shaft and wraps the actuating shaft spirally radially on the outside. In this way the spring-elastic element can be attached to the actuating shaft in a space-saving manner. Alternatively to such a coil spring, the use of a suitably designed spiral spring, a wave spring or a disc spring is also conceivable.

In another preferred embodiment, a bearing disc acting as sealing element can be provided between control lever and second housing wall, which seals the housing interior in the region of the passage opening against the outer surroundings of the housing.

In a further preferred embodiment, the recess provided in the second housing wall can also be a passage opening, which fluidically connects the housing interior to the outer surroundings of the housing and in a first axial section facing the housing interior has a first opening diameter. This first axial section, moving away from the housing interior, merges into a second axial section with a second opening diameter that is smaller than the first opening diameter. The actuating shaft with this version is received in the first axial section. In the second axial section, a preload element can be received which—analogous to the spring-elastic element in the housing interior, for preloading the actuating shaft against the first housing wall at one end and on a face end of the actuating shaft assigned to the second housing wall. At the other end, the preload element can support itself on a housing wall of a compressor/turbine housing, which on a side of the second housing wall facing away from the housing interior can abut the same. In this way, a preload of the actuating shaft towards the first housing wall can also be achieved. In contrast with the spring-elastic element introduced above, the preload element is not arranged within the housing in the housing interior but outside the housing. Consequently the preload element is particularly easily accessible to a worker.

As particularly practical in terms of design proves to be an advantageous further development of the embodiment explained above, with which the preload element is designed stamp-like. A preload element with such a geometrical configuration comprises a stamp shaft, which is arranged in the second axial section of the passage opening. This stamp shaft, moving away from the actuating shaft, merges into a stamp section which is received in a recess that is complementary to the stamp section. This recess is provided on the side of the second housing wall facing away from the housing interior.

The invention furthermore relates to an exhaust gas turbocharger with a turbine and/or compressor geometry introduced above.

Further important features and advantages of the invention are obtained from the subclaims, from the drawings and from the associated figure description with the help of the drawings.

It is to be understood that the features mentioned above and still to be explained in the following cannot only be used in the respective combination stated but also in other combinations or by themselves without leaving the scope of the present invention.

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are explained in more detail in the following description, wherein same reference characters relate to same or similar or functionally same components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It shows, in each case schematically,

FIG. 1 an example of a variable turbine and/or compressor geometry according to the invention in a longitudinal section,

FIG. 2 a first variant of the example of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 a second variant of the example of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 a detail representation of the control lever of the FIGS. 1 to 3, which is fastened to the actuating shaft by means of a screw connection,

FIG. 5 a further detail representation of the control lever of the FIGS. 1 to 3, which is fastened to the actuating shaft by means of a clamping connection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows in a longitudinal section an example of a variable turbine and/or compressor geometry 1 according to the invention. The same comprises a housing 2 delimiting a housing interior 3, which housing 2 comprises a first housing wall 7 a and a second housing wall 7 b located opposite the first housing 7 a. The variable turbine and/or compressor geometry 1 also comprises a blade bearing ring, on which a plurality of guide blades is rotatably mounted (not shown). For adjusting the guide blades between their opening and closing position, the variable turbine and/or compressor geometry comprises an actuating device in the form of an actuating lever 37, which is coupled to the rotatable guide blades for their adjustment between the opening and closing position via an adjusting ring (not shown) that is mounted on the housing. For moving the actuating lever 37, the same is connected to an actuating shaft 5 in a rotationally fixed manner. The variable turbine and/or compressor geometry 1 furthermore comprises a control lever 4 that is connected to the actuating shaft 5 in a rotationally fixed manner, which in turn can be drive-connected to an electric actuator (not shown). The actuating shaft 5 has a centre longitudinal axis M, through the position of which an axial direction A of the actuating shaft 5 is determined. For rotationally fixing the control lever 4 on the actuating shaft 5, a suitably dimensioned break-through 16 can be provided in the control lever 4, which is engaged through by the actuating shaft 5.

Corresponding to FIG. 4, the control lever 4 can be fixed on the actuating shaft 5 in rotationally fixed manner by means of a screw connection 12. Such a screw connection 12 can comprise a threaded bore 13 provided in the actuating shaft 5, which is aligned with a passage opening 15 provided in the control lever 4. For fixing the control lever 4 on the actuating shaft 5, a threaded screw 14 is used.

FIG. 5 shows a variant that is alternative to the scenario of FIG. 4 for the rotationally fixed fastening of the control lever 4 on the actuating shaft 5 with the help of a clamping connection. In this case, the control lever 4 can be equipped with two pincer-like end sections 17 a, 17 b, which in each case partly form a break-through 16 for receiving the actuating shaft 5 and between which a gap-like intermediate space 18 is additionally formed. In the end section 17 a, a threaded bore 19 a is provided, in the end section 17 b a conventional bore aligned with the threaded bore 19 a, which is aligned with the threaded bore 19 a. By screwing a threaded screw 20 through the bore 19 b into the threaded bore 19 a, the two end sections 17 a, 17 b are pressed against one another and in this way pressed against the actuating shaft 5 so that the desired clamping effect is achieved. With the variant of FIG. 5 for both the actuating shaft 5 and also for the break-through 16, a non-rotation symmetrical geometry such as for example the geometry of a polygon in the form of a hexagon—exemplarily shown for example in FIG. 5—is recommended in the cross section perpendicularly to the centre longitudinal axis M. Alternatively or additionally to the screw respectively clamping connections shown in the FIGS. 4 and 5, fastening the actuating shaft 5 on the control lever 4 by means of pressing is also conceivable, in particular in connection with the non-rotation-symmetrical geometry of actuating shaft 5 and break-through 16 mentioned above. In this case, the screws 14 and 20 can be omitted.

With conventional variable turbine and/or compressor geometries, the actuating shaft 5 is usually at least partially received in a bearing bushing attached to the blade bearing ring or on the housing 2 and rotatably mounted in the same. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the actuating shaft 5 with the variable turbine and/or compressor geometry 1 according to the invention by contrast is rotatably mounted directly on the housing 2. To this end, the actuating shaft 5 is at least partly received in a passage opening 6, which is formed in the first housing wall 7 a of the housing 2. As is further evident from FIG. 1, the actuating shaft 5 supports itself within the passage opening 6 directly—i.e. without using a bearing bushing or a similar component that is connected to the housing 2 in a fixed manner—on the first housing wall 7 a. In the second housing wall 7 b on the inside a recess 10 is provided, which is aligned with the passage opening 6 provided in the first housing wall 7 a. The actuating shaft 5 is received in the recess 10 with an axial end section 11 and rotatably mounted in the same. This means that the actuating shaft 5 supports itself not only within the passage opening 6 on the first housing wall 7 a, but within the recess 10 also on the second housing wall 7 b. In both cases, the actuating shaft 5 supports itself directly on the two housing walls 7 a, 7 b. Preferably, an inner diameter d_(i) of the passage opening 6 and of the recess 10 in each case corresponds to a shaft diameter d_(v) of the actuating shaft 5.

On a wall section 9 of the first housing wall 7 a delimiting the passage opening 6 and—alternatively or additionally to this—in the region of the second housing wall 7 b delimiting the recess 10, a protective coating 8 can be provided which improves the resistance of the housing 2 to abrasion and wear. The protective coating 8 can be applied onto the wall section 9 and optionally also onto further regions of the housing 2 by means of “nitrocarburising” and contain carbon and nitrogen. The recess 10, in particular its recess depth t, is dimensioned and designed in the example scenario in such a manner that it acts as axial stop for the actuating shaft 5 for a movement along the centre longitudinal axis towards the second housing wall 7 b of the housing 2.

The FIG. 2 shows a variant of the example of FIG. 1. In order to prevent axial movement of the actuating shaft 5 within the housing 2, brought about for example through axial play of the actuating shaft 5 in the housing 2 due to tolerances, a spring-elastic element 21 is arranged in the housing interior 3, which preloads the control lever 4 and thus also the actuating shaft 5 that is fixed on the control lever 4 in a rotationally fixed manner towards the first housing wall 7 a. To this end, the spring-elastic element 21 supports itself on the one end on the second housing wall 7 b and on the other end on the control lever 4. As is schematically shown in FIG. 2, the spring-elastic element 21 can be or comprise a coil spring 22, which is arranged coaxially to the centre longitudinal axis M of the actuating shaft and radially wraps the actuating shaft 5 on the outside. In variants of the example, a suitable spiral spring, wave spring or disc spring can also be used instead of a coil spring.

With a further version of the example of FIG. 1 shown in FIG. 3, the recess 10 provided in the second housing wall 7 b is also designed in the form of a passage opening 23. Such a passage opening 23 has a first opening diameter d₁ in a first axial section 24 a facing the housing interior 3, which corresponds to the inner diameter d_(i) of the recess 10 in the example of the FIGS. 1 and 2. The first axial section 24 a of the passage opening 23 moving away from the housing interior 3 merges into a second axial section 24 b with a second opening diameter d₂, that is smaller than the first opening d₁. The actuating shaft 5 is received in the first axial section 24 a. In the second axial section, a preload element 25 is arranged, which for preloading the actuating shaft 5 against the first housing wall 7 a supports itself on the one end on a face end 26 of the actuating shaft 5 facing the second housing wall 7 b. On the other end, the preload element 25 can support itself on a housing wall 27 of a compressor/turbine housing 29. The compressor/turbine housing 29 abuts the second housing watt 7 b on a side 28 of the same facing away from the housing interior 3. In this way, a preload of the actuating shaft 5 towards the first housing wall 7 a can be achieved. In addition to this, the preload element 25 following disassembly of the housing 2 from the compressor/turbine housing 29 is particularly easily accessible to a worker.

The preload element 25, as shown in FIG. 3, can be designed stamp-like and comprise a stamp shaft 30, which is arranged in the second axial section 24 b of the passage opening 23. This stamp shaft 30 moving away from the actuating shaft 5 merges into a stamp section 31 which is received in a recess 32 that is complementary to the stamp section 31 and formed on the side 28 of the second housing wall 7 b facing away from the housing interior and protrudes over the second housing wall 7 b for as long as the compressor/turbine housing 29 is not mounted on the second housing wall 7 b.

For sealing the housing interior 3 against the outer surroundings 33 of the housing 2, a bearing disc 34 acting as sealing element can be provided between control lever 4 and first housing wall 7 a in the examples of the FIGS. 1 to 3, which seals an interior space between the actuating shaft 5 and the wall section of the first housing wall 7 a of the housing 2 forming the passage opening 6.

The recess 10, as shown in FIG. 3, is also designed as passage opening 23 so that a receiving groove can be provided in the wall section of the second housing wall 7 b delimiting the passage opening 23, in which partly a sealing element 35, for example in the manner of a sealing ring, is received. The sealing element 35 serves for sealing the housing interior 3 against the outer surroundings 33 in the region of the passage opening 33. 

1. At least one of a variable turbine geometry and a variable compressor geometry for an exhaust gas turbocharger, comprising: a housing including a first housing wall, a blade bearing ring including at least one guide blade rotatably mounted thereon, a control lever for adjusting the at least one guide blade between a closing position and an opening position, an actuating shaft connected to the control lever in a rotationally fixed manner along a rotation axis, the actuating shaft rotatably mounted on the housing via a passage opening disposed in the first housing wall, and wherein the actuating shaft directly supports itself on the first housing wall in the passage opening.
 2. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 1, further comprising a protective coating disposed on a wall section of the first housing wall delimiting the passage opening.
 3. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 2, wherein the protective coating contains at least one of carbon and nitrogen.
 4. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 1, wherein: the housing further includes a second housing wall disposed opposite the first housing wall, the second housing wall together with the first housing wall at least partly delimiting a housing interior, wherein the second housing wall includes a recess disposed axially aligned with the passage opening in the first housing wall with respect to the rotation axis, and the actuating shaft includes an axial end section arranged in the recess directly supported on the second housing wall of the housing.
 5. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 1, wherein the housing further includes a second housing wall having an inner surface facing towards a housing interior, the inner surface of the second housing wall include a protective coating disposed in a region of a recess mounting the actuating shaft opposite of the passage opening.
 6. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 4, wherein the recess is configured as an axial stop for stopping the actuating shaft in a movement along a centre longitudinal axis of the actuating shaft in a direction towards the second housing wall of the housing.
 7. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 1, wherein the control lever is fixed to the actuating shaft via at least one of a clamping connection, a screw connection and a press connection.
 8. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 1, wherein the housing further includes a second housing wall which together with the first housing wall at least partially defines a housing interior, and further including a spring-elastic element arranged between the second housing wall at one end and the control lever at another end for preloading the control lever towards the first housing wall.
 9. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 8, wherein the spring-elastic element includes a coil spring, arranged coaxially to a centre longitudinal axis of the actuating shaft and spirally wraps the actuating shaft radially on an outside of the actuating shaft.
 10. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 1, further comprising a bearing disc arranged between control lever and a second housing wall of the housing disposed opposite the first housing wall, the bearing disc configured to seal a housing interior defined at least partly by the first housing wall and the second housing wall against a surrounding environment of the housing.
 11. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 4, wherein: the recess of the second housing wall further includes a passage opening, the passage opening of the recess including a first opening diameter in a first axial section facing the housing interior, wherein the first axial section extends into a second axial section of the passage opening of the recess in a direction away from the housing interior, the second axial section including a second opening diameter that is smaller than the first opening diameter, the actuating shaft is received in the first axial section, and a preload element disposed in the second axial section for preloading the actuating shaft against the first housing wall, wherein the preload element is arranged between a face end of the actuating shaft facing the second housing wall and a housing wall of at least one of a compressor housing and a turbine housing, the at least one of the compressor housing and the turbine housing mountable against a side of the second housing wall facing away from the housing interior.
 12. The at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry according to claim 11, wherein the preload element is configured as a stamp element and includes a stamp shaft arranged in the second axial section of the passage opening of the recess, the stamp shaft connected to a stamp section disposed away from the actuating shaft with respect to the stamp shaft, wherein the stamp section is received in a second recess arranged complementary to the stamp section, the second recess disposed on the side of the second housing wall facing away from the housing interior and defining at least part of the passage opening of the recess.
 13. An exhaust gas turbocharger, comprising: at least one of a variable turbine geometry and a variable compressor geometry, the at least one of the variable turbine geometry and the variable compressor geometry including: a housing including a first housing wall and a second housing wall, the first housing wall together with the second housing wall at least partially defining a housing interior; a blade bearing ring including at least one guide blade rotatably mounted thereon; a control lever for adjusting the at least one guide blade between a closing position and an opening position; and an actuating shaft connected rotationally fixed to the control lever and being rotatable along a rotation axis, wherein the actuating shaft is rotatably mounted on the housing via a passage opening disposed in the first housing wall and a recess disposed in the second housing wall, the second housing wall disposed opposite the first housing wall with respect to the rotation axis, wherein the actuating shaft is directly mounted on the first housing wall in the passage opening.
 14. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 13, further comprising a protective coating disposed on a wall section of the first housing wall bordering the passage opening.
 15. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 13, wherein the recess is arranged axially aligned with the passage opening, and wherein the actuating shaft includes an axial end section arranged in the recess directly supported on the second housing wall.
 16. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 13, wherein the recess defines an axial stop for stopping the actuating shaft in an axial movement along a centre longitudinal axis of the actuating shaft in a direction towards the second housing wall.
 17. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 13, wherein the control lever is fixed to the shaft via at least one of a clamping connection, a screw connection and a press connection.
 18. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 13, further comprising a spring-elastic element arranged between the second housing wall and the control lever, the spring-elastic element configured to preload the control lever towards the first housing wall.
 19. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 18, wherein the spring-elastic element includes a coil spring arranged coaxially to a centre longitudinal axis of the actuating shaft.
 20. The exhaust gas turbocharger according to claim 13, wherein the second housing wall on an inner surface facing towards the housing interior includes a protective coating disposed in a region of the recess. 